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Municipality Evaluations

Municipal Equality Index

The Human Rights Campaign maintains a Municipal Equality Index that examines how inclusive municipal laws, policies, and services are of LGBTQ+ people who live and work in those towns. This is a national list, so only the largest of each state's towns tend to be included and evaluated. Follow the links above to see current and past reports.

Bergen County Municipal Report Card

How well does your town treat its LGBTQ+ citizens?

The above key shows how LGBTQ+ friendly each town is according to the chart. If we missed anything please let us know.

This map and scorecard from 2020 show which Bergen County municipalities are most welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community. This is crucial because living in a welcoming community allows LGBTQ+ people to feel safer and more open about their identity. Being able to live openly as your true self is key to a fulfilled healthy life. Some of the LGBTQ+ community hiding their sexual orientation or gender identity is not even an option. Whether you choose to live openly or not, being LGBTQ+ holds a level of risk to that person. This is highlighted by just a selection of recent statistics demonstrating how many additional risks LGBTQ+ people face compared to their straight peers, simply by being who they are:

CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Results for 2019

43% of transgender youth, 29% of gay / lesbian youth, and 31% of bisexual youth have been bullied on school property. This compares to 17% of straight youth.

29% of transgender youth, 21% of gay and lesbian youth, and 22% of bisexual youth have attempted suicide. This compares with 7% of straight youth

Bias incidence reports from NJ AG – looks like around 17% or so of reported incidents are anti LGBTQ+.

The 2015 US Transgender Survey also found very high levels of sexual violence committed against transgender people. 47% of transgender people are sexually assaulted at some point during their lifetime. Rates are particularly high among transgender people of color:

American Indian – 65% Multiracial – 59% Middle Eastern – 58%

Black – 53%

Some of the statistics are truly shocking and worth dwelling on for a moment - the figures on sexual violence committed against the transgender population are especially shocking.

The reason we have developed this scorecard is that LGBTQ+ people need to know where their resources are and who is supportive of them and their issues.

In compiling this list, we contacted 58 out of the 70 municipalities of our county and made all of our data available to the public via google documents.

We hope that creating this report will boost participation in all townships in the future. Community leaders and elected officials know that the key to continued economic and social growth in our towns and cities is inclusion, tolerance, and love.

If you are a leader in any of the towns listed in this report and have any corrections to report, please email them to anthony@bergencountylgbtq.org

If you are interested in starting Pride events in your township, please help us and Get Involved.